


Welcome To The 70th Annual Hunger Games.

by brooklynbis



Series: how finnick and annie came to be. [1]
Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types, Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games (Movies)
Genre: 70th Hunger Games, Annie's games, District 4, F/M, Implied/Referenced Prostitution, Mental Health Issues, Odesta, Pre-Canon, annie cresta needs a hug, careers, don't really know what else to tag tbh, finnick drinks a lot of coffee alright, finnick has nightmares, finnick odair needs a hug, flicks between points of view, mags is the sweetest, mentor!finnick, the hunger games - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-06
Updated: 2018-07-06
Packaged: 2019-06-06 10:31:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,453
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15192851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brooklynbis/pseuds/brooklynbis
Summary: annie was only one year away from never being reaped again. one more year, she thought. she could survive that. what were the chances?turns out the odds weren't in her favour.basically a fic from when annie gets reaped to when she wins her games.





	Welcome To The 70th Annual Hunger Games.

**Author's Note:**

> soo first time publishing something on here? spent a few hours on this and it was quite long so felt like I could post it. there may be some typos. constructive criticism is welcomed!  
> lowercase is generally intended but my laptop corrects it sometimes.  
> flicks between finnick's pov and Annie's pov, I think it remains largely as finnick's for the most part though.

Finnick still had to attend the reapings, despite being excluded from them. He would sit in wooden chairs beside mags, and watch as two of district four's children were chosen to die (in some form or another). He was usually quite detached during reapings, wandering off in his own mind so he didn't think too much about the kid's fate. 

He wasn't exactly the best mentor either. Many times, he would sit there in silence with a cup of coffee and let Mags do all the mentoring. When they had entered the arena, they were meant to go out and get sponsors for their tributes, but often that was left down to Mags too, with Finnick just sat in the room with the screens on their tributes, watching and almost praying they met their end early on. 

"And as always, ladies first," the Capitol representative said, with too jolly a voice to be normal. She had very bright blue hair, which matched her blue skirt suit that had many frills and bows. It contrasted deeply with her pale, almost white skin, and dark, long (obviously false) lashes. Her cheeks were a deep pink and her lips had cobalt lipstick on. She was truly a capitolite. 

Finnick vaguely recognised her, and he soon placed it to her being a client at some point (no doubt why she'd asked to be the representative for district four) so he avoided all eye contact with her, other than a handshake at the beginning. 

"Hm, this one," she said, drawing a slip of paper as time seemed to stand still as she unfurled the slip. 

"Annie Cresta," she said as most of the girls breathed a sigh of relief, glad that it wasn't them for another year. He watched as a small girl towards the back froze, before being dragged out of the crowd by peacekeepers, and marched to the front. As she got onto the stage, he looked away from her, knowing a small, frightened girl like her would be one of the first to die. 

"And now for the boys," she said cheerily, before selecting a slip of paper which said 'Jackson Merida'. He was a tall, built man, clearly this was his last year in the reaping. He seemed quite enthusiastic, which was promising. 

Once the reaping was done, Mags squeezed Finnick's shoulder and he got up, helping the frail old woman up and lending her his arm to help her walk back into the Justice Building where the two tributes had just been led through. If Finnick had it his way, he wouldn't be a mentor at all, but he didn't want to leave Mags alone to do it, so he was a mentor too. Being the only two victors still alive from district four, it was down to them to hopefully get a third living victor for their district. In reality, he knew it wasn't all it was cracked up to be, and it was probably better to die in that arena than it was to emerge a victor. 

He led Mags onto the train without a word, and once she was settled in one of the comfortable chairs, he walked over to the bar and started to make a calming cup of tea for Mags and a cup of coffee for himself. It was easier for the both of them to wait on the train for the tributes to come to them, rather than trying to rush their time with their families (which would probably end up being their last time). 

"There you go, Mags," he said, setting the tea down on the glass coffee table in front of her and she nodded her thanks. 

"You good?" she asked quietly, luckily Finnick could pick up most things she said in her quiet voice now. He just nodded, sitting the coffee cup down next to hers, looking out of the train window at the station. He noticed a few of the girls had come straight from the reaping to chance a glimpse of him on the train, and gave them a small wave and a smile when they spotted him. He could see the Peacekeepers leaving the train, and they suddenly started moving, meaning the boy and girl who's name he had forgotten already were somewhere on the train. 

"I'm just going to go find them, okay Mags?" he asked her as she nodded and he left the carriage, slowly walking through all the carriages until he caught sight of red hair. He was glad he had asked Mags their names before leaving, not wanting to startle either of them. Annie was silent, biting her nails out of nerves, whilst Jackson was quite energetic, and was rambling about how he was going to win and bring riches home to his family. He was actually smiling about it, which was quite sad really. 

"Jackson? Annie? We're down in the buffet cart if you wanna come join us," he spoke up, as Jackson walked up to him and patted his shoulder. Finnick didn't like it, but despite everything, it was never his intention to come across as unfriendly. 

"So what's the best way to kill someone when they have the upper hand over me? Say, they've pinned me down and are about to kill me, how can I gain the upper hand and kill them instead? Also, which weapon is best to go for in the cornucopia? Like is there one specifically that I should go for? Cause obviously I know you had a trident but I just don't feel like that's me, y'know? And I want a weapon that feels right but can still kill-" 

"Woah, calm down. All in good time. Let's just go down to the buffet cart and start on the basics, alright?" Finnick said with a nervous chuckle. He spoke so easily about killing people and weapons as if it were some glorious thing. It really wasn't. He could also see out of the corner of his eye that it was freaking Annie out, all the talk of death, and whilst she couldn't avoid it forever, he knew that it was the worst thing to overwhelm somebody. 

Jackson thankfully just chuckled before apologising sheepishly, and walking in the direction Finnick pointed for the buffet cart where Mags would be watching. 

"Coming?" Finnick offered a small smile to Annie who seemed frozen in place until he addressed her, where she snapped out of it and let Finnick guide her towards the cart, a comforting hand on her shoulder. He knew exactly what it felt like to be scared shitless, and convinced you were travelling to your death. 

Once both were sat down in the chairs opposite him and mags, he busied himself with making them hot drinks too, making Jackson a coffee and Annie a hot chocolate. She seemed like a hot chocolate girl, and it would probably calm her better than coffee would. 

He sat down next to Mags, who had already begun to talk to them, mostly just describing how she won her games. Jackson was listening intensely, whereas Annie just fiddled with her fingers, listening here and there. She seemed more interested when she revealed she had won her games simply by hiding, not being obvious where she was, never staying in one place and not being killed by natural causes. The last tribute in Mags' arena died from drinking contaminated water. Jackson soon got bored of that though.

"So, I presume you won by killing a bit more?" he asked, impatiently turning to Finnick, who wasn't really prepared to relay his games. 

"Listen to Mags. Her games may have involved less killing but she knows a shit ton, alright?" Finnick said, sighing as he poured some sugar into his coffee and stirred it, feeling the three of them staring at him. 

"What's gotten into the Capitol's golden boy?" Jackson said, making Finnick internally flinch a bit. 

"Nothing, but killing isn't as glorious as you think it is. If you can survive the way Mags did, it will make your life a heck of a lot easier. Chances are, you would die from natural causes, not from killing. Plus, in her many years of being a mentor, she has a few words of wisdom. She can tell you more than I can, so listen to her," Finnick said, before nodding at Mags to continue. Whilst Mags was talking, Jackson had the respect to listen, and he kept making eye contact with Annie, and he genuinely felt sorry for her. 

________________

"Morning," Finnick said to Mags the following morning, rubbing his eye before fixing himself with another cup of coffee and a piece of toast. 

"I know you don't think you're any good at mentoring Finnick, but could you try a little please? I don't think I'm getting through to Jackson, he thinks I'm too boring. And honestly, I think he's our best chance, bless Annie's heart," Mags said quietly from where she was pouring milk over her cereal. 

"Hey, I have faith in Annie. She's quiet, and small, and scared, but we all were. I think she's smart and she will have the skills to survive, just like you did," he pointed out before taking a bite of his toast, as Annie walked into the room quietly. He gave her a small smile as she sat down, which she returned. 

"I think he's very... Prepared, but clearly, the games have been glorified for him," Mags said, as Finnick scoffed. 

"Prepared is one way to put it. He could almost pass for a district one or two kid," Finnick said as Jackson walked into the room. 

"I just know that to win these games, you have to kill. I'm only preparing for the inevitable, that I'll have to kill to win. Not many are lucky enough to survive without killing like Mags, and it's better for me to know what I'm doing," Jackson quickly defended himself as Finnick held his hands up in defence as he finished his toast. 

"Fair enough. Just, don't brush the survival stuff aside. It's just as important as being able to throw a spear or use a bow and arrow," Finnick said as Jackson nodded. 

"What about you, Annie? Have any plans on how you want to win?" Finnick asked, sitting down at the table as Annie's head shot up at the sound of her name. 

"Oh... No. I just presumed I'd die, I don't have the determination or strength like Jackson does," she said quietly before bowing her head again, letting her red hair cover her pale face. Finnick made eye contact with Mags and they appeared to have a private conversation through their eyes right in front of Jackson. 

________________

If Annie was honest with herself, she really didn't believe she could win. Here she was, sat next to this over confident boy, who was so intent on winning (which would mean she would have to die). Her family obviously wanted her to come home, but she knew she had no chance. Especially not compared to the careers. 

It was clear that she would click better with Mags. She won her games in the non violent way Annie would hope to win, and honestly, her foraging stories would probably be more useful than Finnick's inevitable killing tales. Despite Jackson's constant probing, he still hadn't told them how he had won, which indicated to Annie that he didn't particularly want to talk about it. 

He wasn't currently coming off as the charming golden boy the Capitol promotes him as. It's leading Annie to believe that it's all an act, probably forced by the Capitol. She wants to believe that isn't the case though. 

"So when searching for berries, always check if they shine. If they do, that's a surefire way to know they're poisonous and to not eat them," Mags finished, pointing out the difference between a shining berry and a dull berry. She was quite happy to listen to the non killing stuff, but Jackson wasn't. 

"When will we get to learn the interesting stuff?" Jackson complained as Finnick rolled his eyes. 

"Go on Finnick, I was done for a minute anyway," Mags said, patting his knee as he looked at her and they appeared to have another conversation through their eyes. 

He cleared his throat before he spoke. 

"I didn't kill that many people in my arena Jackson. I killed a few, but it was not all the glory you make it out to be. There's blood, everywhere, and their screams will haunt you, no matter how strong you think you are."

"I can handle it," he said, determined, and already the talk of blood and screams made Annie feel a bit queasy. 

"Obviously the best place to aim for is the heart, but it's actually pretty small. If they have the upper hand, you look to disarm them so they can't hurt you before you try and kill them. Often, you'll fail and just make them angry. Or try and go for their spine, so they won't be able to move and stop you," Finnick advised, and whilst Annie was busy trying not to throw up from the killing talk, she could also see that Finnick wasn't entirely comfortable with talking about it. 

"Your best weapon is all down to you. The trident worked for me because I could throw long distance, and it was easier to kill people with. But it all depends on you and what your strengths are." 

"Despite that, I really can't stress enough how important it is to not focus on killing people. You run into that bloodbath with the intention to kill, you will be killed. Your safest bet is to find shelter, water, food. No doubt one of the three will be scarce, and you will be at a major advantage if you have those three things. Not having them? You'll be dead at your own hand." he shrugged before sitting back, drinking some more coffee. Annie noticed how much of it he drunk. 

"But at the end of the day, you have to kill someone to win." Jackson protested. 

"But you can't kill someone to win if you're already dead from dehydration," Finnick said with sarcasm dripping from his voice, making Annie produce a tiny smile. He smiled a bit when he noticed he had made her smile. 

"Anyway, you guys should probably rest. We arrive tomorrow and then it's training and interviews," Finnick suggested, getting up and helping Mags up before leaving, neither one of the tributes asking why he was going so early. 

"You really need to speak up a bit more if you want a chance at surviving," Jackson commented once the door had closed behind the two mentors. 

"Well, I know I won't survive. Not being funny, but I'm not you. And it's starting to become clear that a victor's life isn't all it's cracked up to be," Annie replied quietly as he sighed. 

"Annie, he's just downplaying it. He has a great life, he just doesn't want to get involved with us in case we die. And I intend to prove him wrong," he said, before getting up and leaving Annie alone. 

She sighed, rubbing her forehead before flicking her hair off her face and leaving the cart herself, intent to get some sleep tonight. 

_______________

She awoke to faint shouting. Judging by the fact that the corridor lights were dimmed, she presumed it was still the middle of the night, making her wonder who would be shouting at this time. It was very inconsiderate. 

She listened a bit harder as the voice cried out again and she recognised it as Finnick's. She slowly got up, and exited her room as she followed his muffled shouts. She paused outside his door, wondering if it was her place to wake him up. After all, he was superior to her. 

But one more cry pushed that thought from her mind. She couldn't leave him like that, no matter who he was. 

She firmly knocked on his door, and when she got no response, she carefully pushed it open and saw him tossing and turning in his sheets. She tiptoed across the room before bending over and carefully shaking his shoulder. When that got no response, she shook his shoulder more firm as he sat up quickly and gasped, taking some heavy breaths before noticing there was somebody in his room with him. 

"Uh, Annie. Sorry, are you alright?" he asked in confusion once he caught his breath, trying to play off the nightmare. 

"I'm fine, but you sounded scared so I thought I'd wake you. Sorry if it wasn't my place or anything," she apologised sheepishly as he just gave a tired smile and shook his head. 

"It's fine, thanks for that. Sorry if it woke you," he chuckled quietly, clearly still trying to calm down after his nightmare. 

"No, no. But you seem pretty shaken up over it, you can talk about it if you want," she offered but he quickly shook his head. 

"Nah, I'll be fine Annie. You should get some rest," he said, getting up from the bed and quickly grabbing a shirt, putting it on in one swift motion. When she didn't move, he walked over to her slowly and lifted her chin up so that she was making eye contact with her. 

"You sure there's nothing wrong?" he asked, a look of concern on his face and she shrugged. 

"Haven't exactly been sleeping since I got reaped," she chuckled nervously with a shrug as he sighed and pulled her into a hug. 

"What can I do to help?" he asked quietly above her head as she shrugged again. 

"I don't know, didn't really expect you to do anything," she replied, closing her eyes as she heard the steady thumping of his heartbeat. It was actually quite relaxing. 

"How about we go have some hot chocolate and take it to the back carriage? I've heard it's quite calming in there, and I think we could both do with that right now," Finnick chuckled, releasing her as she nodded and followed him out of his room, down to the buffet cart where they so often sat. She sat on the counter in silence as he made hot chocolate, as if it were a regular thing he did. Hot chocolates were a dream for her until this reaping. 

"Down to the back carriage?" Finnick suggested, holding two overly full hot chocolate mugs as she nodded and took one, following him to the back. He was right, it was really warm in that carriage and they were surrounded by windows, making for good viewing of the stars in an otherwise blank landscape. 

"It's nice in the daytime too, can see quite a bit of nature then," Finnick commented, going to sit on part of the sofa curving around the carriage and she joined him on the opposite side. 

It was silent for a while before either of them spoke. 

"Do you miss home when you mentor for the games?" Annie asked, catching Finnick's attention as he shrugged. 

"Sometimes. I go on trips to the Capitol a lot so I'm not really in four much. It's nice when I am though, calms me," he shrugged. 

"Why do you go to the Capitol if you hate it so much then?" 

"Don't really have a choice. Comes with being the golden boy I guess," he chuckled, but both of them could sense there wasn't any funniness to the situation. 

"What about you? What's your family like?" he asked, wanting to take the attention away from him for a while.

"Eh, they're alright. I don't think Mum likes me very much though, she prefers my older brothers. They're past reaping age so she doesn't have to worry about them as much, and they're tall and strong and fearless. I think she always disliked the fact that I seemed to cry watching every arena, and that I wasn't like them," she shrugged, acting as if it didn't hurt her. 

"Well, now's your chance to prove her wrong?" Finnick suggested, trying to make Annie's situation seem to have a silver lining. 

"Yeah, not really. When they came to see me, my Mum told me that it'd be easier to die than make a fool of myself trying to fight," she said, raising her eyebrows as Finnick frowned. 

"That's not exactly fair. You can have a chance at winning," Finnick said, giving her a smile as she shook her head. 

"It's nice that you think that, but she's right," she replied. 

"Anyway, enough talk of the games. It's all our lives seem to revolve around. What do you like about home?" Finnick asked, steering the topic away from what he was sure was stopping both of them from sleeping. 

"The ocean," she replied instantly. She didn't even stutter. "It's calming, and probably where I spend a lot of my time." 

"Me too. It's right close to the victor's village, but I always used to catch fish there with my dad when I was little. If I listen hard enough at night with the windows open, I can hear the waves crash onto the shore," he said with a distant smile on his face as they both slowly sipped their hot chocolates. 

He talked about the ocean for a while, to fill the silence, since it was clear Annie didn't have anything to add, and when he next looked over at her, he saw her fast asleep, draped over the sofa and still gently clinging to her now empty mug. She looked so peaceful whilst sleeping, so Finnick got up and retrieved a blanket for her, carefully laying it on top of her so she would stay warm.

As he watched her sleep for a minute or two, he made his mind up. 

He had to help her win.

________________

The training flew away in a blur. Finnick observed the training with the other mentors. Jackson straight away went to the weapons and training to kill despite what Finnick and Mags told him. Annie avoided the weapons as much as she could, opting more for camouflage, foraging and lighting fires. They had their evaluations, with Jackson coming out with a 9 and Annie coming out with a 7. Not bad scores for either of them. 

It would at least make it a bit easier to get sponsors for the both of them. 

Their interviews could've gone worse. The Capitolites loved Jackson, he was quite clearly a career, and Finnick wouldn't be surprised if he ended up in an alliance with the other careers. Annie was quite quiet in hers, but she was pretty enough for the Capitolites to think it was cute and like her anyway. 

Now, it was the night before they were sent into the arena. Jackson had gone to bed already, as had most people. Annie and Finnick were the only people left up. Annie had spent most of the evening crying, whether that was sobbing or weeping or just silently crying. They had all tried consoling her, but nobody was getting through to her, so they all left. Except Finnick. He knew what it was like to just not be able to stop crying and he understood that this was her response to the utter terror she must've been feeling. 

They were currently sat in a bay window, a large one, which fit both of them and allowed them to look over the Capitol. They could faintly hear the Capitolites partying and celebrating, which had always seemed foreign to Finnick. He would never understand them. 

Finnick had Annie curled up tightly in his arms. He had tried everything to calm her down, but apparently hugs worked the best, and anything to stop her crying and having panic attacks. He could still feel her crying by the way her tears made his shirt wet, but he didn't care much. She had calmed down massively since everyone had left the two of them alone. 

He had been whispering soothing things into her hair since they had settled, and it had calmed her down. Other than that, they were quiet, just taking comfort in each other's presence. 

"You're going to be okay in there, Annie," he murmured as she just sighed and shook her head. 

"You don't know that." 

"I promise you, I'll do everything I can in my power to keep you alive and okay," he promised, making her squeeze his middle a bit tighter. 

He ended his sentence by pressing a kiss to her forehead, before resting his head on top of hers and stroking her arms gently, in a soothing motion. 

Never had he had a tribute be so terrified before the games. 

And if she slowly moved her hand so theirs were loosely laced together, he didn't mind. Nobody needs to know that he only gripped tighter. 

___________________

"Did I teach you some things as a mentor? I'm usually kinda crap at it..." Finnick chuckled as he and Annie made their way to the room where she would be sent into the arena. 

"Find water quickly, don't light fires unless it's really foggy because they'll use the smoke as a signal to find you..." Annie rambled the whole way there, repeating every bit of information that Finnick had taught her. She ended it with a smile, despite the mood. 

"You're gonna be okay," he murmured, helping her into the coat set out for her, as she turned around to face him. 

"Don't put yourself out too much, I'm not worth it," she replied quietly as he reached up a hand to cup her cheek gently. 

"You'll always be worth it. I can't wait to see you come out as Victor, okay?" Finnick said, coaxing a smile out of her, as the voice in the room said ten seconds. 

She carefully leant up and gave him a kiss on the cheek. 

"Thank you," she whispered before stepping into the pod, and when the glass sealed around her, he could see her tears start to fall. Partially from leaving, partially from going into the arena. He couldn't tell which was a bigger influence. 

She didn't need to know that he let a few tears of his own slip once she had left. 

_______________

As soon as he had composed himself, he left the room where Annie had once been, and quickly walked to the District Four mentor's room. Each district had a room where there were a bunch of screens focusing on their tributes where the mentors could stay and watch their tributes. All these rooms came off one big gathering room where sponsors stayed and mentors, where socialising happened and eating and drinking alcohol, and the mentors could mingle and try and get sponsors for their tributes. 

Finnick didn't hang around, knowing that his eyes were probably still a bit red and his voice would probably croaky. 

"You usually don't get so attached to tributes," Mags commented from her chair in front of the screens as he entered, clearing his throat and pouring himself some water. 

"I'm fine, just pollen count must be high," he said, an obvious lie to both himself and Mags, but it was easier than admitting how much he had come to like the girl he had just sent to her probable death. 

"Are they still both alive?" he asked, sitting down beside her after taking a drink. 

"Yeah, Jackson went into the bloodbath but thankfully didn't get killed. He got some weapons but didn't make an alliance with the careers yet. Annie just ran in the opposite direction after a bag got chucked in her direction," Mags commented, as he nodded and they watched in silence for a bit. Finnick's eyes didn't move from Annie's screen where she was currently trekking through forest quietly, presumably trying to find water or shelter. 

"I'm going to go and try and get some sponsors for them, I never liked the whole sitting and waiting thing," Mags said, patting his shoulder and getting up, slowly making her way out of the room and leaving Finnick alone again. 

He sat there for days. On the first night, Annie found some berries to eat and had the smart idea to sleep under a stone ledge, which must've been damp and crawling with bugs but clearly she didn't care. She watched as 14 tribute's faces were projected into the sky that night. Not hers, and not Jackson's. 

The second day brought trouble. Mags had been in to check on him periodically, and to ask if he was going to go to bed, but he just didn't reply, half dozing in his chair whilst Annie did. Mags just left him, bringing him food every now and again. She had never seen him so intense with the tributes, he usually gave up after this point and presumed them dead already. 

Annie had been quietly minding her own business by a spring of water when it happened. She was gathering water when the Careers spotted her, hooting and laughing at the prospect of killing her. It made her freak, and obviously run as quickly as she could, which was surprisingly quick. Finnick was sending prayers to whatever god there might be that she'd make it out of this alive. Due to her small size, she quickly managed to hide in a large, conveniently hollow bush, making the leaves cover her just in time. Both her and Finnick knew she was breathing too quickly and loudly, panicking out of her mind when she spotted Jackson, out of the corner of her eye, and knowing the Careers had a new target, she watched with wide eyes. Unfortunately, Jackson wasn't a quick runner, and he tried to fight them instead. Finnick just shook his head in disapproval. Everything he'd told him about not actively seeking a fight had gone down the drain, and now Finnick was just hoping Jackson had trained enough to make it out of this alive. 

He didn't. He did alright at first, stabbing one Career and holding off the other two on his own. Annie was too terrified, too paralyzed to help him. He didn't notice the Career behind him, wielding an axe, and in one clean blow, his head came away from his body, bouncing and rolling closer and closer to Annie in the bush. He could see the fear in her eyes, how she was struggling to hold back her screams, as the Careers laughed and high fived, stabbing his twitching body a few times for good measure before disappointing. Finnick could feel his own heart was beating unnaturally fast, and knowing he was close to a panic attack himself, he took a couple moments to focus in on himself, and with a couple minutes of focused breathing, he felt a small hand on his back, rubbing soothing circles. 

"It never gets easier to watch, does it?" he mumbled, keeping his gaze on the floor between his feet. 

"Not really," she admitted, sighing when he raised his head and put his arm around the old woman, hugging her for both her reassurance and his. Once he focused back in on the screen, he felt his heart clench again at the sight of Annie. She had gotten out of the bush, and had ran as far from Jackson as she possibly could. She was currently collapsed by the trunk of a tree, sobbing her heart out and quite clearly having a panic attack. 

On the evening of the second day, she almost got killed again. A kid from district 6 found her, and she was just wandering in a haze, it was concerning. She didn't make any effort to run from the kid, to defend herself, almost surrendering herself to death right then. The kid cut her leg deeply, and went to stab her in the heart, but was quickly pierced by a spear. Annie didn't seem to care where it came from, or the blood flowing steadily down her leg. For a second, Finnick thought the tall girl from district 11 was going to kill her, but instead she just grabbed the spear, looked her up and down and ran off. Finnick breathed a sigh of relief, and then closed his eyes. He watched her not do anything about her leg for an hour or so before getting up. 

"Where are you going Finnick?" Mags asked, confused. He hadn't left the monitors other than to go to the loo since they had been put in the arena. 

"She needs medicine for that. She needs sponsors," he said simply, rubbing his eyes before putting on his Capitol smile and charm and walking out of the room. 

________________

Finnick took some time after he got Annie's sponsor to collect himself again. He went up to the District Four floor and had a shower, scrubbed his skin a bit to feel clean again, and washed away any evidence that he had cried a little bit in the shower. It was worth it for Annie to heal her leg and hopefully survive. Plus, he hoped the message he had put in with it would ground her enough to not surrender herself in the face of a tribute. 

Once he was done showering, he towelled his hair a bit before going back to the room where Mags was sat. 

"You okay?" Mags asked, knowing exactly how Finnick had gotten a sponsor for Annie so easily and quickly. 

"I'm fine," he muttered, making a cup of coffee before sitting down next to Mags. 

"Do you wanna talk?"

"Not really," he shrugged, watching the screen as the beep of a parachute was heard by them, but apparently not by Annie. She didn't notice it until it hit her on the nose as it landed. She was quick to unwrap it and read Finnick's note. 

'You're okay, repress it for now if you need to. Focus on what's real.  
Apply this generously. - F' 

She smiled slightly at that, and opened the tin and applied some of the medicine to her cut, wincing but applying generously as he said. He just sighed, sitting back slightly in his chair. He could feel himself nodding off slowly in his chair, and didn't try to fight it, knowing he hadn't slept much since she'd gone in. 

"Go to sleep, love. I'll wake you if anything happens," he heard Mags say as she gently took his coffee cup away and he didn't fight it, just murmuring a response before falling into sleep. 

____________________

"They're planning on flooding the arena soon apparently," Finnick overheard one of the mentors say as he refilled their coffee pot from the main room. He had left Mags watching Annie, no way was he letting something happen to her on her own. It had been a couple days since Jackson had died, and it had been a couple days since Finnick had gotten Annie her first sponsor. He'd had to get her a few more sponsors since then, and he was tired. He'd never had so many clients in such a short period of time, even when the Capitol scheduled it, but he told himself Annie needed these things, and so it was worth it. 

Mags had volunteered to try and get Annie some sponsors without Finnick putting himself through that over and over, but he refused. It was easier, and a surefire way to get Annie the things she needed. If he had to suffer a bit for it, then so be it. 

It didn't shock him that the gamemakers wanted to do something dramatic like flood the arena. The games had already gone on for longer than they usually do, and with five tributes still left, it could go on for a while more. 

He quickly took the full coffee pot back to the room where Mags was sitting, a glint of hope in his eyes that looked so tired when he had left the room before. 

"Mags, she might have a chance," Finnick said excitedly, putting down the coffee cup quickly before sitting in his chair. 

"They're apparently planning on flooding the arena," he said and she quickly came to the realisation of how good that could be for Annie. 

"Do you think she'll be in the right state of mind to swim and hold her breath for that long?" 

"I hope so, she'll hopefully push that aside out of instinct, we've all done it before," he shrugged, as his eyes were drawn to the screen with a thundering sound of the earth shaking. Despite everything, Annie had been doing alright with her occasional notes from Finnick, and this was set to be the final show. He watched as Annie looked around in confusion and fell off the branch she was sitting on. A camera panned out and showed the massive dam looming over the arena breaking due to the earthquake, and he watched Annie's response, which didn't appear to be to do much. 

He watched as the water wave washed towards her quickly, he watched as she let herself get swept away from it, and he watched as the arena slowly filled up, and the other tributes were shown to panic. None of them had been taught to swim really, or how to hold their breath underwater. Finally, Annie had the advantage. 

He watched as the tributes could see her gracefully floating in the water, holding her breath with ease, watched as they tried to grab her ankles, so she'd pull them up with her, as she dropped her weight dead on them to make them let go and gracefully floated away from them. They heard the canons go off one at a time, some from drowning, some from killing each other, but Annie just floated in the middle, her cheeks puffed out but with what looked like very little effort. They heard the last canon clearly, but it must've been muffled for her under the water. What only took a few minutes for them probably felt like an eternity for her. 

"Mags she did it," Finnick said breathlessly as she laughed and they hugged tightly as the water slowly drained from the arena and Annie slowly let herself lay on the damp ground, feeling numb and barely aware of her surroundings as she was announced as Victor. 

"We're gonna help her, right?" he said suddenly, looking anxious. He knew that he struggled immensely following his 'win' and no doubt she was too, especially since she was so fragile prior to the games. Winning the games never really felt like winning at all. 

"Of course we will." 

___________________

**Author's Note:**

> sooo that was something. let me know if you think I should write what happens post Annie's games? (I probably will haha) might write something based on catching fire and mockingjay too. if I do mockingjay, the event which will not be named involving a certain finnick odair might happen, but he won't end up dead. I refuse to let that happen haha.  
> let me know! feedback on this is welcomed!


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